Kiki Smith's Whimsical Explorations at Pace Gallery

Kiki Smith, Sungrazer VIII (2019). Bronze, 279.4 x 121.9 x 121.9 cm. ©️ Kiki Smith. Courtesy Pace Gallery.⁠⁠

Kiki Smith, Minou (2019). Bronze and 14k yellow gold. 26.7 x 48.3 x 27.9 cm. ©️ Kiki Smith. Courtesy Pace Gallery.

Kiki Smith, Blue Rain III (2016). Ink on paper. 50.8 × 62.2 cm, Framed: 57.8 × 69.9 × 3.8 cm. ©️ Kiki Smith. Courtesy Pace Gallery.

Kiki Smith, Sentry (2020). Bronze. 47 × 73.7 × 43.2 cm. ©️ Kiki Smith. Courtesy Pace Gallery.

By Eva Fuchs – 5 August 2022, New York

Based in New York, Kiki Smith creates prints, textiles, sculptures, and drawings that examine humanity’s relationship to nature.

Born in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1954 to American parents—Minimalist sculptor Tony Smith and actress and opera singer Jane Lawrence—Smith later settled in New York, where she developed her largely self-taught practice.

The death of her father in 1980 led Smith to explore themes of mortality and decay alongside religious references influenced by her Catholic upbringing.

Themes of spirituality and mortality and their interconnectedness to nature continue to be present in Smith’s practice, as seen in her current exhibition of new paper works, sculptures, and prints on view in an exhibition at Pace Gallery‘s East Hampton space until 14 August.

Here, references to the natural world are present, along with an exploration of the interplay between heaviness and lightness.